Some Days...

Some days are tiring...
Some days are exhausting...
Some days are overwhelming...


Then you find a long-forgotten book on your bookshelf and you remember:


a simpler day...
a sweeter day...
a special day...


and you take a moment to recreate the memory...

Too Hot for the Oven!

I'm sure those of you reading this can certainly agree that it has been excessively HOT here in the Midwest.  I am not one to frequently get the urge to bake cookies.  Unfortunately, tonight the urge struck.  I did not want to compromise my air conditioning as it struggles to keep up in this hot weather without any added heat.  So I went in search of the "No Bake" cookie recipes.  Much to my dismay I found that many of the recipes for the traditional cocoa and oatmeal base no bake cookies also include peanut butter.  Since I don't want to chase each cookie with a dose of Benadryl I continued searching for a no peanut butter version.  I am pleased to report that I found one and the cookies are cooling in the freezer as I write this blog entry.  I will share the recipe to help anyone else who might like it.  They have not been taste-test approved yet, but by the taste of the leftovers in the pan, I'm counting on good reports.


No Bake Cookies


2 cups sugar
1 cup butter
1/2 cup milk
5 Tbsp cocoa
1 tsp vanilla
3 cups quick oats
3/4 cup chocolate chips


Bring sugar, butter, milk and cocoa to a boil, cook for 1 minute.  Add vanilla, oats and chocolate chips.  Stir until combined.  Drop by tablespoonfuls on wax paper.  Cool until set.  Remove from wax paper and enjoy!

Another Grocery Store Moment

Tonight after my ladies bible study, I stopped at Dillons to get the ice cream and toppings for Wednesday night's Free Car Wash and Ice Cream project at church.  Wow!  You can imagine the looks you get when you pile 8 BUCKETS of ice cream into your cart!  I would have bought 10 - except there were only 8 in the case :)  I did not go immediately to the check out, instead I went to get an item I had forgotten (and there was a line).  When a couple young ladies walked by me it was obvious - they were questioning the amount of ice cream in my cart.  I went to the check out and they ended up behind me.  So I had a great opportunity to tell them what the ice cream was for and invite them to join us.  They seemed pretty positive about it and noted they were new to town.  After I loaded my van, I was returning my cart as they were walking to their car.  I noticed they had Missouri license plates, so my curiosity peaked and I asked where in Missouri they moved from.  I was totally expecting a "Joplin" answer in light of the recent devastation, but no - they just moved to Augusta from SEDALIA!  Imagine my surprise.  I explained to them that my family moved from Sedalia just last summer.  The story doesn't end there.  We introduced ourselves.  Their names - the blonde is Faith (the name of my youngest blonde beauty) and the brunette's name is Haley (the name of my oldest brown-haired beauty).  I told them I thought I could remember their names pretty well (and why)...it was one of those moments...a God moment...a God in the grocery store moment...wow, how He never ceases to amaze me with the stories I can come home to tell about :)


I didn't get their last names...maybe that is a connection that God is saving for another day.

The Chocolate Diaries - Book Review

I am excited to have the opportunity to review the new book by Karen Scalf Linamen, The Chocolate Diaries.  This is the first of her books that I have read.  I figured anything with chocolate in the title had to be sweet.  This book offered a healthy serving of fifteen chapters of the author's anecdotes on life seasoned with a variety of true and relevant stories from friends and acquaintances.  While this 201 page book could be digested quickly, I chose to spread it out over several courses to savor the flavors presented.


Each chapter offers "Sweet Secrets" from the author's readers with different answers to the question, "What's your secret to a sweeter journey on the rocky road of life?" Each chapter concludes with a handful of questions the author titles, "Food for Thought" and also a section "Because Real Women don't need a Cookbook" that offers various types of chocolate indulgences.  


I personally enjoyed chapter four with seven "pick-me-ups" to brighten each day.  I found them to be practical and possible.  I also tried the recipe offered at the end of chapter eleven for Three-Minute Cake in a Mug with my girls and it was a huge hit.  This book offers some real-life, practical advice on managing the ups and downs of life.  This book's wit, recipes and questions would make for some fabulous fun for a women's group that meets on a regular basis.  If you are searching for your next bible study, please keep in mind that although there are references to Christian living within this book there are not regular passages of scripture in each chapter for study.


I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review.

Guarding My Heart

If I were to ask you to list a variety of things we should guard our hearts against, what would you list?  I imagine things like bitterness, evil, unjustified anger, greed, envy, and pride would likely sprinkle the list.  I've recently  been consumed by reading.  I've found that I enjoy reading more now than ever before.  So much so, that it has actually taken away time from facebook (gasp!). I find it very difficult to put down a book once I've turned the first page.  In my head it is like a movie that I don't want to interrupt.  For years there has been one particular secular author I have enjoyed reading.  Recently, I was introduced to some "inspirational" suspense/romance novels.  One particular series was a 7 book series in which I completed 6 of the 7 books in less than two weeks.  While I waited for the one that I had not yet read to arrive by inter-library loan, I gobbled up another two-book series.


I was so enthralled with the well written suspense and I was equally thrilled I felt no guilt in reading the romance that never materialized on paper beyond a kiss and an embrace.  The more I read the more hopeful I was that this was indeed what love should look like.  I began to ponder what had happened to the romance in my own marriage?  I checked myself (with the help of the Holy Spirit) and realized that I was reading "the pursuit."  Each book I read focused on the beginning of new relationships, not the reality of living in a relationship.  I returned to my photo albums to remember that I too had once been "pursued" by a handsome, loving man I now call my husband.  Then yesterday, I ran across an article by Russel Moore that suggested that romance novels could hurt your heart.  The article pointed to similarities between romance novels (even "inspirational" romance) having the same emotional impact on a woman as the physical impact pornography has on men.  He did not by any means make them moral equals.  Is his conclusion wrong?  Honestly, for me it was confirmation that there really is a potential threat to fall into the belief that the man in my life must be all (alpha-male) man and at the same time possess all the sensitive, romantic ideologies of my female brain.  I'm not suggesting we throw out all forms of romantic literature.  I enjoy a good, page-turning book and the tears and excitement that come along with it.  What I have concluded is that it is just that...a book, a fictional story, an escape from reality that is not to be projected onto what is my relationship reality.  Yesterday I finished another book.  This one a different story about a couple married 21 years on the verge of divorce.  Only through their renewed relationship with God were they both able to see their own fault in their marital struggles and move together on the road of reconciliation.  It was a story almost too real to read.  He blamed her for this, she blamed him for that and they altogether gave up on trying to serve and love the other until they were too miserable to even speak to each other.  In the end, they realized that the walls they built around their hearts were built on lies they had told themselves.  It was the truth that set them free to love each other again.


My truth is this: God has blessed me with a wonderful husband.  He may not be the female-brained, alpha-male guy in the romance novel, but he is mine, a gift from God to love and cherish all the days of my life.  Given the time and effort necessary, I too would pen our story in an inspirational pursuit of true love.  Until that day, I will choose to write our story on the pages of my heart and guard this priceless treasure that God has given me.


~"Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it." Proverbs 4:23 

Daddy Dates by Greg Wright - Book Review

Daddy Dates is one man's journey through parenthood raising four daughters. This book is full of practical tips for fathers to get to know their daughters. The book offers twenty-five short chapters and additional helps such as personality profiles and a list of the top 15 daddy dates.

I love the idea presented throughout this book, as the author once penned it, “I show my girls that they are understood, valued, and cherished by the first guy who ever loved them for who they are.” I found this book to be well-written and easy to read. I think this book is a great handbook for all parents raising daughters in today's culture. The platform of this book seems so simple, yet so foreign to our families today. I love the example of a father guiding his daughters into womanhood by showing them how a man should love and respect them. I also appreciated the author's chapter dedicated to “Mommy Dates.” This chapter is devoted to reminding men that “mommy” was their first girl and that they need to continue to pursue that relationship in the midst of the parenting years.  I believe the suggestions in this book have great potential to build and strengthen the father/daughter relationship for years to come. 

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com <http://BookSneeze®.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Coffee?

I've never considered myself a coffee drinker.  My mom never made it much when I was growing up, only when there was company around.  I did remember liking it as a kid with milk and sugar.  As an adult, I've just left it be.  However, with the emergence of time I've found that although I may not be a 'real' coffee drinker, there is an  indulgence I enjoy.  On a trip to Missouri one weekend I discovered a Mocha Caramel Cappuccino that I did very much enjoy.  I've stopped at that same location a time or two since and they no longer offer what I crave.  I've had one at McDonald's and I have enjoyed it as well.  However, I cannot wrap my frugal spirit around a $3 coffee on a regular basis.  Therefore, I have created my own.  Since I am not up on the coffee lingo, I did have to do a little research to find out exactly what it is I make.  Honestly, I'm still not sure but I'm calling it a latte.  I have found that if I heat my skim milk and add 3 spoons of the instant suisse mocha and 2 spoons of the instant caramel coffeehouse beverage mixes I have a delightful pick-me-up to enjoy on a regular basis without breaking my budget.